What is the DASH-diet?

According to the results of scientific research, dietary approach has been developed to the problem of high blood pressure - the so-called DASH-diet, or "Stop Hypertension Plan". Of course, it should be understood that if the cause of hyper-tension is, for example, kidney disease, you still can not do without proper treatment.

It should also be appreciated that, since hypertension is, as mentioned, a multi-factorial syndrome, then diet alone likely will not be able to reduce or prevent hypertension. It is necessary to combine this with other activities such as:

In general terms, the basis of DASH-diet are largely healthy foods. The carbohydrates must be getting from whole grains, not from sugar and sweets. Proteins - from nuts, beans and white meat, less frequently - from red meat. Dairy products allowed with low fat and fat free. Vegetables and fruits dominated in the diet as a source of nutrients, especially those who are actively involved in lowering blood pressure (calcium, potassium, magnesium, protein and fiber).

DASH-diet severely limits (or even eliminates) the use of products that, as it is known, increase blood pressure: sodium (salt), sugars, trans-fats and saturated fat, coffee and other drinks containing caffeine.
Alcohol also is limited (up to 200 g of dry red wine a day) as well as the consumption of bread (200 g per day, preferably rye). Foods that should be consumed in moderation also include potatoes, beans, beans and peas.

DASH-diet does not contain any specific recipes, but only determines the number of servings of foods of each group in your daily menu. The size of the portions, of course, depends on the total amount of calories that you should receive daily. Before turning to the DASH-diet, you must determine the required calorie content of your diet, depending on age and level of physical activity.

To salt or not to salt?

A distinctive feature of the DASH-diet is the minimal use of the salt - tolerable upper intake (for sodium) is 1500 mg per day. This is due to the fact that excess sodium causes water retention, which increases blood pressure.

What is 1500 mg sodium? This is 3.87 grams of salt - ie, half a teaspoon (without a "top"). It seems to be enough to ensure that the food was not tasteless. But…

All processed foods contain a lot of salt. At the base of the 600 kinds of products, which are defined in the sodium content, there is no one where in the 100 g of the product was less than 1 gram of sodium. Meat products are leaders: different varieties of salami (1900-2260 mg), breast (1600), boiled-smoked sausages (1544). Even wieners contains 1150 milligrams of sodium.Cheeses contain 1100-1700 mg of sodium, sauces (ketchup and chili), respectively, 1338 and 1114, mustard - 1267 milligrams.

Somehow, after that it becomes no surprise that according to statistics, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the average American man eats in a day 10.4 g of salt, and an American woman - 7.3 grams. Well, indeed, if one eats a day about a kilogram of food, including at least 30% are products from the above list, - due to this he receives at least 3 grams of sodium, which is equivalent to 7.7 g of salt! This is a teaspoon, and everything else - it's what you add yourself.

So, if you want to sit on the DASH-diet, first of all do not buy any product that has passed the cooking process! Sour perspective, is not it? Well, I can sweeten it a little.

Sol, unlike sugar is not so "white enemy" how recently it is sometimes rtpresented. In the end, humanity uses salt already 8000 years. The trouble is that in our time the inhabitants of the "developed countries" get 75% of salt from processed foods. And they "hooked" on them so much that the simple food is already not perceived without the addition of salt, spices or sauces.

But sodium is harmless to the organism by itself. Conversely, sodium, as well as potassium and calcium, is one of the most important minerals in the body. These minerals are found in large amounts in all the cells of our body and regulate the important metabolic processes. The body of adult human weighing 70 kg contains 55-60 grams of sodium.

"Salt problem" is that minerals are involved in many processes in pairs. For example, calcium and magnesium in the body should be in a ratio of 2: 1, and the deposition of calcium salts does not mean that you have an excess of calcium, but on the contrary, you do not have enough magnesium.

Similarly, the sodium and potassium paired regulate water exchange between the cell and the intercellular environment (potassium-sodium pump). Potassium essenti-ally sits within the cells, sodium - in intercellular fluid. Excessive sodium intake disturbs the balance, and there are two ways to adjust: the first - is to increase sodium excretion from the body, and the second - to increase potassium intake.

Excess sodium in the body usually occurs not only due to an excessive salt intake, but also because of lack of urine volume. Therefore, the recommendation to drink 2 liters of water a day is very correct and reasonable. There is a simple rule: for each adopted gram of sodium you should drink a liter of water. Count your "salt diet" and act accordingly.

A person needs about 2 grams of potassium daily. It is believed that ordinary food provides it. It's hard to say, is this true or not, because most of potassium found in white mushrooms, soybeans and other legumes, and in spinach. To be sure, take multivitamins: modern formulas necessarily contain potassium, but sodium they not contain.

I think this approach will raise your "salt threshold" to an acceptable level so that, if you do not eat just one salami and wash down with ketchup, you will not have especially tremble over every pinch of salt. With one caveat: this does not apply to people sensitive to salt, when any amount of sodium in excess of the minimum required for the body can lead to high blood pressure. And in any case - insufficient salting better than to overdo.